New Mac Pro

The new Mac Pro with M2 Ultra was revealed during WWDC in 2023. It used the same large case as the previous Intel model, but lacked GPU expansion and support for select graphics cards.

A Mac Pro with M3 Ultra is expected to arrive in 2024, likely during WWDC. It will likely be a spec bump without support for external GPUs.

Everything below this point are rumors about a Mac Pro with Apple Silicon before the M2 Ultra model was revealed. It was assumed a new smaller tower would exist, but never came to be.

Previous Mac Pro rumors

The Mac transition to custom Apple Silicon is nearly complete. All that remains is Apple's most powerful desktop — the Mac Pro. A new Mac Pro with an M-series processor is expected to launch sometime in 2023, which means Apple missed its expected two-year deadline for the transition.

Apple updated the Mac Pro in 2019 with a whole new design, new processor options, up to 1.5TB RAM, up to 8TB SSD storage, the T2 Security Chip, and more. A customer could spend anywhere from $5,999 to almost $62,000 for the computer alone. The Pro Display XDR, advertised to go with the Mac Pro, starts at $4999 for standard glass and an extra $999 for the stand.

The current Mac Pro was in development for six years before being released to the public in December 2019. Rumors suggest that a new Mac Pro and a series of Apple displays may be released in 2023.

Two sizes

Rumors from both Mark Gurman and Jon Prosser suggested that one concept Apple is considering is similar to what Apple released in 2019, but dramatically smaller. The design was said to embrace an upscaled G4 Cube-like concept with a compute unit on the bottom and a heat sink on top. However, it appears this rumored machine is the Mac Studio.

That means the larger machine will inevitably be the new Mac Pro, but it isn't clear what form it may take. It will run the M2 Ultra, possibly two in tandem, and have some kind of modular use case for high-end users.

Mac Pro rumors solidified into Mac Studio, but both can coexist with Apple Silicon

Another rumor suggested that the Mac Studio is a one-off product. The Mac Pro would take over whatever high-end configuration the Mac Studio offers now, and the Mac mini with M2 Pro will cover what's below that.

However, that rumor has since been dashed, with a new one from Mark Gurman stating Apple will release two versions of the Mac Studio and the new Mac Pro at some point in 2023 — maybe WWDC.

Mac Studio vs Mac Pro - Specifications

Processors	10-core M1 Max	20-core M1 Ultra	8-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon W	28-core 2.5GHz Intel Xeon W Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
Memory	32GB Unified Memory, up to 64GB	64GB Unified Memory, up to 128GB	32GB DDR4 ECC 2666MHz	Up to 1.5TB of DDR4 EEC
Graphics	M1 Max 24-core	M1 Max 48-core	AMD Radeon Pro W5500X	AMD Radeon Pro W6900X
Media encoding/decoding	Media Engine	Media Engine	-	Apple Afterburner
Storage options	512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB	512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB	512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB	512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB
Ports	4 Thunderbolt 4 ports 2 USB-C ports 2 USB-A ports 10Gb Ethernet SDXC (UHS-II)	6 Thunderbolt 4 ports 2 USB-A ports 10Gb Ethernet SDXC (UHS-II)	Two USB 3 ports Up to 12 Thunderbolt 3 ports Dual 10Gb Ethernet 8 PCI Express card slots	Two USB 3 ports Up to 12 Thunderbolt 3 ports Dual 10Gb Ethernet 8 PCI Express card slots
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6	Wi-Fi 6	802.11ac	802.11ac 2 10Gb Ethernet Ports
Bluetooth	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Price	Starts at $1,999	$7,999	$5,999	$45,799

M-Series Processor, Cores, dedicated GPU

Apple Silicon processors have started to take over the Mac lineup. Apple currently has ten devices using the M1 processor series: The Mac mini, M1 MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, 24-inch iMac, 11-inch iPad Pro, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and iPad Air 5 use the M1. The 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro use the M1 Pro and M1 Max. The Mac Studio uses the M1 Max and M1 Ultra.

The next Mac Pro may feature a new M-series chip

The M1 Ultra has a 20-core CPU, which was in line with rumors, but a more powerful M-series processor may still be coming. The new M-series processor is said to have up to 40-CPU cores and 128-GPU cores. Apple said the M1 Ultra was the final chip in the M1 lineup, so this 40-core chip may be part of the M2 series.

Apple has continued its upgrade cycle with the M2 lineup. So far the 13-inch MacBook Pro, M2 MacBook Air, iPad Pros, and Mac mini use this processor. There is also an M2 Pro version of the Mac mini, and the MacBook Pros use the M2 Pro and M2 Max.

M2 Ultra is expected later in 2023. It may be introduced with a new Mac Pro and Mac Studio.

The current Mac Pro has an Intel Xeon W processor starting at eight cores. Options are available with up to 28 CPU cores. The M1 Ultra is capable of outperforming the 28-core Xeon according to Apple's benchmarks.

If Apple reuses the Mac Pro tower for Apple Silicon, it'll have a lot of empty space

A Mac Pro user can put several different GPUs into the current computer. Apple offers five different PCI-E models to start off with — AMD Radeon Pro 580X, AMD Radeon Pro W5500X, AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, AMD Radeon Pro Vega II, and AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo. However, other AMD cards are supported, and cards with the newer "Big Navi" architecture have been released by AMD. PCI-E video cards from AMD up to and including the AMD 6900XT series can be installed by the user.

The existing M-series processors do not support external GPUs. According to Mac4Ever and corroborated by AppleInsider's trials, external GPUs may be possible in the future as they can be detected but are currently unusable.

A report from Mark Gurman suggests that the Apple Silicon Mac Pro won't have user upgradable RAM or accessible PCI-E slots. The biggest difference between this Mac and the Mac Studio will be increased cooling capabilities.